Body weight scale with visual notification system and method

ABSTRACT

An interactive body weight scale is presented. The body weight scale may have computing and data communication ability to track a user&#39;s weight by connecting to a number of different electronic devices. The body weight scale is capable of recording an audio message, converting the audio message to message text, and transmitting the message to a remote social network. The scale may also receive message responses from the remote network and play the messages back based on whether a particular message is a positive message. A scale use indicator provides a reminder for a user to use the body weight scale.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to the field of body weight scales. Moreparticularly, the described embodiments relate to a system and methodfor an interactive body weight scale.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the present invention provides a digital body weightscale having the ability to record and transmit weight information foran individual scale user. The digital weight scale may have a loadsensing surface, a display, a data input interface, a wirelesscommunication interface, and a memory containing one or more weight logsfor one or more individual scale users. The electronic scale may trackhealth information including but not limited to weight, body fatpercent, water weight, body mass index, and other health metrics. Thesystem may comprise the body weight scale, a digital food scale, amobile electronic device such as a smartphone, and a remote social mediaaccessible via the Internet. The system may allow a body weight scaleuser to record an audio message at the scale, publish the message to asocial media as a social media post, receive post responses, and read orlisten to the post responses at the digital body weight scale. Thesystem may analyze post responses to determine whether a particular postresponse is a positive response. If the post response is not a positiveresponse, the post will not be displayed or played back by the scale.The scale may also play back messages pertaining to use of the digitalfood scale and mobile device.

In another aspect, a scale use indicator on the digital body weightscale encourages scale use by visually signaling a scale user toweigh-in on the scale. The scale use indicator may provide progressivesignals depending upon the length of time since the user's most recentscale use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a body weight scale in datacommunication with external sources.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of internal elements of the body weightscale.

FIGS. 3A-3D show exemplary visual displays for the body weight scale.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for using an interactive bodyweight scale.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a method for displaying images in a bodyweight scale.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a method for a scale-use indicator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a system utilizing a body weight scale in a datacommunication network. The system includes the body weight scale 100, amobile electronic device 110, and a food scale 120, each capable ofcommunicating with a social media 140 over a remote network 130. Socialmedia 140 may be implemented as a website, a mobile application orcomputer program accessible by scale users, and may include a data storeaccessible via an application programming interface (API). Although theembodiment described in FIG. 1 shows only three connected devices, thesystem could include a number of additional connected devices 150providing data input to scale 100, such as blood pressure cuffs, ECGmonitors, heart rate monitors, activity monitors, pedometers, and othersuch devices 150 providing data about a user's physical state. Theseadditional devices may also be connected to mobile electronic device110, food scale 120, and social media 140. Devices 150 may be part of alarger system of health tracking, either for general wellness or inrelation to a chronic condition such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes,obesity, and other conditions.

Body scale 100, mobile device 110, and food scale 120 each have wired orwireless data communication capability. Wireless interfaces 106, 117,and 128 of scale 100, device 110, and food scale 120 respectively, mayinclude one or more of Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth connections, GSM orCDMA cellular communications, or other wireless protocols. Body scale100, device 110, and food scale 120 may each be capable of more than onetype of wireless communication. The system shown in FIG. 1 provides acomprehensive way for an individual to track the individual's weight andnutrition over time. The system also comprises a data network 130 suchas the Internet, which allows body scale 100 to send and receive socialmedia messages, as well as to store weight and nutrition informationremotely. In one embodiment, the integrated system may allow a user tostore and access synchronized weight logs 112 and nutrition logs 113using multiple devices 110 for multiple scale users. Other device 150data streams may also be stored and synchronized.

Body scale 100 comprises a weight log 101, which includes weightinformation over a period of time for an individual. In a preferredembodiment, body scale 100 includes multiple weight logs 101 formultiple scale users. The body scale 100 preferably identifies anddistinguishes between different scale users so that each user can tracktheir weight information over a period of time. In one embodiment, thebody scale 100 may recognize unique users based on recognizing theweight of an individual on the scale and predicting the correct userbased on the weight. In another embodiment, the mobile device 110 maysend a signal to the body scale 100 when the mobile device 110 is inproximity to the body scale 100. In this embodiment, the body scale 100would receive the signal from mobile device 110 and select weight log101 corresponding to the owner of the mobile device 110. Alternately, asimple device such as a key fob or watch could contain wireless signalcapabilities to send a signal to the body scale 100 to select aparticular weight log 101. Such a key fob or watch could also be used tosignal to the body scale 100 that the user is in close proximity, whichcould signal the scale to perform specific tasks unique to that scaleuser, such as causing a light to strobe. The weight log 101 may beupdated with a new log entry every time a particular individual uses theweight scale 100, for example daily or weekly. Weight log 101 mayinclude information such as the user's weight, age, height, body fat,body mass index (BMI), weigh-in date and time, and other physicalhealth-related data. The health-related data is preferably measured andstored in weight log 101 at regular intervals, such as every time a userweighs-in on the scale. In a preferred embodiment, body scale 100contains recorded notes 104. The notes may be audio messages recorded atthe scale using an internal scale microphone. The notes 104 arepreferably stored in a physical, non-transitory scale memory.Alternately or in addition, voice-recognition software may convert theaudio message into message text, after which the text note 104 could bestored on the memory. The notes may also be text notes entered using atext input such as a keyboard. Notes 104 may serve a number of purposes.The user may record messages detailing health goals, comments related todaily or weekly progress, posts to send to one or more social mediaservices, responses to social media posts, reminder messages, etc. Oneor more notes 104 may be transmitted to social media 140 over network130. If notes 104 are transmitted and posted to a social media 140, thepost may receive responses from other members of the social media 140.These responses may be received via the data network and stored associal media responses 105, which may be in audio response format ortext response format. Alternately, responses 105 may not be stored inmemory, but instead played back as an audio or text data stream over theremote network.

The body weight scale 100 may communicate directly or indirectly withmobile device 110 and food scale 120. Devices 110, 120 may be devices asdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/605,517 filed Sep. 6,2012, and entitled “Connected Food Scale System and Method,” thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Mobile device110 has a nutrition software application program (“app”) 116 stored on aphysical device memory. Food information tracked by the app 116 isstored in food log 113. App 116 may also receive weight data from bodyscale 100 and store the weight data in weight log 112. App 116 may notbe limited to tracking only food and weight data. App 116 may alsoinclude activity tracking, insurance sponsored programs, medical-deviceand medical therapy apps, or chronic disease management apps.

Mobile device 110 preferably has an internal digital camera 111 thatallows food images 114 to be captured and stored in mobile device 110.In the preferred embodiment, images 114 correspond to foods that theuser has eaten, and each image 114 is associated in food log 113 withone or more food log entries for a specific date and time. A user may beable to “tag” images 114 with image tags 115. Each image 114 may haveone or more tags associated with the image. Tags may categorize eachimage as being related to one or more other types of images having thesame tag or tags. The tags may be text strings representing variousattributes of foods in the images 114, such as “breakfast,” “fruits,”“healthy,” “unhealthy,” “good for me,” “restaurant meal,” or other foodcategories or attributes.

Food scale 120 is preferably able to communicate with one or both of themobile device 110 and body scale 100. Food scale 120 may have a food log122 that is synchronized with the food log 113 of mobile device 110.Images 124 and image tags 126 of food scale 120 may also synchronizewith images 114 and image tags 115 of mobile device 110. Body scale 100may receive images 114, 124 from one or both of mobile device 110 andfood scale 120, and store the images 114, 124 as images 102 inconnection with the weight log 101 of body scale 100. The images maylater be displayed to the scale user.

Social media 140 may synchronize with body scale 100, mobile device 110and food scale 120. Social media 140 could also synchronize directly orindirectly with a number of third party applications or devices. Images143, images tags 144, weight log 145, and food log 146 may be uploadedto the social media 140 to be stored. Social media 140 may also storemessage posts 141, which may be recorded notes 104, and post responses142 which may be transmitted to body scale 100 as social media responses105.

Turning to FIG. 2, body weight scale 100 contains internal componentsfor functioning within the system of FIG. 1. Body scale 100 includes acentral computer processor (CPU) 210 connected to a physical,non-transitory memory 220. A wireless communication interface 106provides data communication connectivity to a remote network 130. Memory220 stores user data 230 including a user identifier 231 to uniquelyidentify a scale user, a weight log 233 uniquely belonging to the useridentified by user ID 231, one or more notes 235, images 237 of foodseaten by the user 231, image tags 238 belonging to images 237, andresponses 239 received from a social media 140. Images 237 may bereceived, via a data connection, from one or more of food scale 120,mobile device 110, and social media 140. Although not specificallylisted in FIG. 2, other types of related data may be stored, such aswater weight, lean weight, body fat percent, body mass index, etc. Theelements stored in memory 220 may be also synchronized and storedremotely in a cloud-based storage.

Body weight scale 100 may have various sensors and input devices. A loadsensor 254 captures body weight, which is converted to a digital weightsignal by an analog-to-digital converter 214. A microphone 256 allows ascale user to record audio notes 235, and one or more body measurementsensors 252 may record other body measurements. Sensors 252 may includebody fat sensors, blood pressure cuffs, ECG monitors, heart ratemonitors, and other such sensors for detecting physical measurements fora scale user. A speaker 265 and visual display 261 provide output to theuser. A data input device 262 may include a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, or other controller to allow a user to input information intothe body scale 100. Additionally, scale 100 has a clock 280 to determineweigh-in date and time for a particular scale use.

The body scale 100 of FIGS. 1-2 may have communication capabilities forinteracting with social media 140. A user may record a message usingmicrophone 256. The recorded audio message may be processed by speechrecognition software 271 and sent via the wireless interface 106 tosocial media 140 as a social media post. The body scale 100 may alsoreceive post responses 239 from social media 140. A text-to-speechprogram 272 may convert a message response text 239 to an audio messagethat can be played back on speaker 265. Alternatively, the messagesreceived from the social media 140 could be audio messages that can beplayed over speaker 265 without the need for text-to-speech conversion.In one embodiment, social media responses 239 are analyzed using naturallanguage processing programming 245 and decision programming 240 todetermine whether a response 239 should be played back on speaker 265.For example, a user may wish to only hear social media responses 239that are positive responses. This allows a user to ignore unconstructiveand detrimental comments while attempting to achieve a goal.

FIGS. 3A-3D represent examples of an interactive display 300 for a bodyweight scale 100. The display screens 300 depicted in FIG. 3A-3Drepresent one possible implementation of display 300. It is possiblethat display 300 could have more or fewer viewing features. In oneembodiment, display 300 could show only the body weight of the scaleuser when the user is being weighed on the scale 100. Display 300 couldbe implemented as a touch-enabled video screen at a scale user's waistor eye level. Display 300 could also be implemented as an app 116 onmobile device 110. In this embodiment, mobile device 110 would act asboth input device 262 and display 261 for body scale 100. Body scale 100could then simply display the weight of the scale user on a display ofthe weighing surface. Audio recognition could also be used to panthrough the different screens in FIG. 3A-3D.

The display 300 may allow a user to view data in many different ways. Inone embodiment, display 300 has a screen 310 that changes based on aselection of buttons 312, 314, 316, 318. These buttons may be smallbuttons designed to be utilized by pressing the buttons with a finger.Alternatively, in an embodiment in which display 300 is provided on aweighing surface of scale 100, the buttons could be larger to allow userinteraction by pressing the buttons with a user's foot. As shown in FIG.3A, the Main button 312 displays a current weight 320 for a scale user,a current body fat percentage 321, a current body mass index 322, a goal325, and a change in weight 326 since the most recent user weigh-in.Other raw scale data could also be displayed. In FIG. 3B, The Graphbutton 314 allows a user to view a graph 330 of previous weight data.Graph 330 may show the user's change in weight over a period of time. InFIG. 3C, Images button 316 allows a user to view images 350 of foodseaten by the individual. In one embodiment, the images 350 are images offoods that the user has eaten within a specific time period. Forexample, images 350 could be images received from mobile device 110 forfoods eaten within the past 7 days, or past 24 hours, or other specifictime period. The images 350 may also be chosen from among all images 102in the body scale 100. The images 350 may have associated tags 356 thatrepresent categories or attributes of the corresponding images. In FIG.3D, the Social button 318 allows a user to view a screen to send andreceive social messages. The Social 318 display may have a “record”button 360 to record an audio note 104, a “play back” button 362 to playback notes 104, and a “play responses” button 364 to play back selectedsocial media responses 105. The Social display 318 could alternatelydisplay social media responses as text. A “progress” button 367 maycause the scale to present encouraging messages for the scale user inresponse to a specific achievement or overall goal.

Display 300 may also have one or more indicators 340 to remind anindividual to weigh-in on the scale. The indicator 340 provides a meansfor driving adherence of scale use. Indicator 340 could for example beLED lights of various colors, or could be part of the scale display 310.The indicator 340 may be used in a number of ways. The indicator 340 mayflash or strobe, may change color, may vary in strobe duty cycle, etc.For example, a user may be assigned an indicator 340 of a first color.If the user does not use the scale for more than, for example, threedays, the indicator 340 would begin to flash at a low duty-cycle. Theduty-cycle may increase successively as more time elapses betweenconsecutive weigh-ins by the scale user. In an alternate configuration,an indicator for an individual may be a first color when the individualis weighed on the scale. After a predetermined amount of time, if theuser has not used the scale, the indicator would change to a secondcolor. Later, if the user has not used the scale after a secondpredetermined time, the indicator would change to a third color. Thedisplay 300 may be capable of notifying more than one user, either byassigning a single light to a single user, or by assigning a singlelight color to an individual scale user. Each user's scale activity istracked independently. In an alternate embodiment, the indicator 340could also include audio indicators such as a tone, beep, alarm, orother audible indicator. In one embodiment, a mobile device 110 or otherwireless device may send a user-identifying signal to body scale 100when the mobile device 110 is in proximity to body scale 100. In thisembodiment the indicator 340 could function to only illuminate or soundwhen mobile device 110 is in proximity to body scale 100. Indicator 340would then only display a reminder when the user is near body scale 100.

While the indicators 340 are shown in FIG. 3A-D as being on the samesurface as the display 300, one of the preferred embodiments utilizesthe indicators on a different surface. For instance, the indicators 340could face the ground when the scale is in use. When lit, the indicators340 would create an “aura” of light around the bottom of the scale thatcould be noticed from across the room, yet still remain unobtrusive. Inother embodiments, the indicators 340 could consist of a plurality ofLED lights located around the periphery of the body scale 100. Lightingpatterns of the indicators 340 would again be noticed from across theroom. In this example, if the periphery of the scale 100 were glowinggreen, the user associated with the green color would know that it istime to use the scale. If more time passes, the color could pulse toindicate that it has been longer since the user has taken a measurement.The pulse could then turn into an on-off flashing after an even longerperiod. In an embodiment utilizing a key fob or watch to communicate tothe scale that a user is present, the indicator 340 could increase lightintensity for the user identified by the key fob or watch.

In FIG. 4, a method 400 for using an interactive body scale ispresented. Although the method 400 is presented in FIG. 4 as a series ofsequential steps, the steps may be performed in any order, and in anycombination; it would be possible to implement variations that excludesteps or that include additional steps. With reference to FIGS. 1-2, instep 401, a message is recorded at the scale, using a microphone 256.The message may be an audio message, and may be converted in step 402from an audio message to message text via speech recognition programming271. Alternately, the message may be received as text input via an inputdevice 262. In step 403, the message may be stored as audio or text in amemory 220 of scale 100. In step 404, the scale records a current userbody measurement. In one embodiment the body measurement is a userweight detected using weight sensor 254. The body measurement could alsoinclude BMI, body fat percent, heart rate, or other such bodymeasurements detected by sensor 252. In an alternate embodiment, therecorded body measurement is not a number, but a calculated value basedon current and previous measurement data, such as a percent change inweight (e.g., 1% of body weight lost). In step 412, a social media postrelated to the body measurement recorded in step 404 is sent. The socialmedia post may be a message that reflects the individual's mood at thetime of weighing, or may be a reaction by the user of the user's currentstate in relation to a goal. Step 412 may be performed automatically inresponse to recording the message in step 401, or in response torecording the body measurement in step 404. In another embodiment, thescale user must actively choose to initiate sending the social mediapost, for example through user interface 300, or through a command onmobile device 110. The body measurement may also be sent along with thesocial media post.

In step 415, a textual or audio response to the social media post isreceived at the scale 100 from the social media 140. In most cases, thisresponse will be related to a message posted earlier by the user of thescale 100. The post response may be positive, (e.g., “Keep up the goodwork!”), or not positive (e.g., “You haven't made any progress yet.”).In step 420, the post response is analyzed using natural languageprocessing programming 245 and decision programming 240 to determinewhether the post response is a positive response. At step 422, if thepost response is positive, the method proceeds to step 430, in which thepost response is stored in the memory 220 of scale 100. In an alternateembodiment in which post responses are streamed directly from a remotedata connection, the post response would not be stored, but would bereceived and analyzed on-demand. In step 435, if the positive postresponse is a text response, the text is converted to audio viatext-to-speech programming 272. The method 400 then proceeds to step440, in which the post response is played back at the scale as audiothrough speaker 265.

If the post response is analyzed and found to be not positive in step422, the post response is disregarded in step 423, and not played backat scale 100. Instead, in step 425, the scale 100 generates a positivefeedback message for the user. The message may be a pre-recordedmessage, or could also be a post response received in the past. Thechosen feedback message could also be the message recorded in step 401,to remind the user of their goal. In step 440, the message is playedback as audio on the scale speaker 265.

In step 440, the message may be played back in response to a trigger,such as a load being sensed on the weight load sensor, or a request froma user received via the scale user interface. A push notification fromthe social media may also trigger the message to be played back in step440. The message may be played back sequentially along with the postresponse, allowing the scale user to hear both the originally postedmessage and the post response together. In an alternate embodiment, thetext could be simply displayed on the scale display 261, and not playedback as audio. In some circumstances, the played message could beselectively played based upon how well the user of the scale 100 ismeeting a certain weight loss goal. For instance, if a user has notprogressed toward their goal in the last few weighing sessions, thescale 100 could respond with a positive message recorded by a friend tothe social media 140 supporting the user as they try to reach theirgoal. If no responses are received in step 415, then the body weightscale may provide a message to play back in step 430. This message maybe based on perceived progress made by the scale user. This ensures thatthe user is always able to receive positive feedback at the scale.

The method of FIG. 4 could be repeated for the scale user at a latertime. In these subsequent repetitions, steps 401 and 410 could beskipped, and the message saved in step 410 could be associated with asubsequent body measurement in step 403 and then sent as a social mediapost in step 412. The method 400 would then continue as indicated.

FIG. 5 presents a method 500 for displaying food images at a body weightscale. The method may be implemented in the system of FIG. 1. In step510, food images are captured. The images may be food images 114captured by an internal digital camera 111 of a mobile device 110 andtransferred to the body scale 100 to be stored as food images 102 in thescale memory. The images may alternately be crowd-sourced or stockimages stored remotely as images 143 of social media 140. In step 516,image tags 103 are assigned to one or more food images 102. The imagesand image tags could also be generated at food scale 120, or via socialmedia 140. In step 518, the tagged images 102 are associated with aparticular user. In this step, the images may also be associated with aparticular time or date, specifying when the user ate the food. In step520, the scale captures first weight data for the user. The weight datais stored in step 522. The data may be stored in weight log 101 residingon memory 220, and may also be stored in a memory of a mobile device.The weight data in step 522 may also be stored by social media 140. Instep 524, second weight data is captured for the user at a later time.For example, the user might be weighed the next day or the next week.Once the second weight data has been collected at the scale, in step 530the first and second weight data are compared. In general, the firstweight data with be either greater than, less than, or the same as thesecond weight data. Depending on the user's goals (e.g., gaining orlosing weight), the scale 100 determines whether the individual isnearing a predetermined goal. If the second weight is improved, that is,closer toward the goal than the first weight, a first image 102 having apositive-association tag 103 is displayed at step 531. For example, ifthe user's goal is to lose weight and the second weight data is lowerthan the first weight data, an image with a “good for me” tag 103 willbe displayed. This positively reinforces the user to continue to eathealthy foods. If there is no change between the first and second weightdata, or if the difference between the first and second data is small(for example, less than 1 lb.), in step 533 food images 102 may be shownat random, or images may be shown as a slide show, comparing “good”foods and “bad” foods tagged by the user for a particular past timeperiod. This allows the user to think about food choices, and helps toreinforce the user to make healthy choices. If the second weight data isnot improved or has worsened in comparison to the first weight data, instep 535 and image with a negative tag 103 is displayed to the user. Forexample, an image with an “unhealthy” tag 103 could be shown, toindicate to the scale user the type of food choice that may bedetrimental to the user's weight goals.

The tags associated with the images may be tags created by the user whenthe food images were captured. Alternatively, the foods images could beassociated with food data, such as calorie or fat content. In theincorporated patent application Ser. No. 13/605,517, images are createdby a mobile device such as device 110 and associated with food data at acentral computer. The device 110 could analyze the food data associatedwith the image to determine whether the food should be tagged assupporting the user's goal (low calorie or low fat food for aweight-loss goal) or tagged as being adverse to the goal (e.g., highcalorie, high fat, or high sugar content food for a weight-loss goal).These automatically generated tags could then be used in associationwith the images by the scale 100 to control when the images aredisplayed after a weighing session.

FIG. 6 shows a method 600 for reminding and encouraging use of a bodyweight scale 100. The method 600 utilizes an indicator 340 to signal anindividual to weigh-in on the scale 100. The indicator 340 could, forexample, be an LED or series of multiple LEDs, an assigned area ondisplay 310, or an aura of light around the scale surface or floor.Other implementations are possible, and will be evident. Although themethod 600 is presented in FIG. 6 as a series of sequential steps, thesteps may be performed in any order, and in any combination; it would bepossible to implement variations that exclude steps or that includeadditional steps. Specifically, the indicator 340 may return to itsinitial state if the individual weighs-in at the scale 100 at any pointduring the method. In step 610, a scale use is detected. The detectionmay be performed by CPU 210 in response to a signal from load sensor 254of FIG. 2. In one embodiment, the scale use detection may includerecognizing an individual user, by such means as receiving a useridentifier, receiving a user-identifying signal from mobile device 110,or predicting an individual user based on weight or other bodymeasurement measured by the scale when the user steps on the weighingsurface. An auditory or visual confirmation of the user's identify maybe made during this step. In step 615, a weight is recorded at thescale, and stored in memory 220. In one embodiment, the weight may bestored in a user weight log 233. In step 620, and indicator 340 is setto an initial state, which depends on the specific implementation of theindicator 340. The initial state may be an OFF state in which theindicator is not illuminated, or could conversely be an ON state inwhich the indicator illumination remains constant. The initial statecould be a first color of light, a first duty cycle flash, a firstillumination intensity, or a similar signal. In step 625, after thescale use is detected, clock 280 within scale 100 begins to track theamount of time since the individual's most recent weigh-in. At step 630,the passage of a first time interval is detected by clock 280. The timeinterval may be, for example, three days. After the first time intervalis detected, in step 635 the indicator 340 initiates a first indicatorsignal. The first indicator signal may be an altered state of indicator340 different from the initial state in step 620. The first indicatorsignal may be a color, a duty cycle flash, a light intensity, or othertype of signal. In an alternate embodiment, an intermittent remindersound or tone could also be produced along with the first indicatorsignal. The clock 280 continues to track the amount of time since theindividual's most recent weigh-in. At step 640, if the individual hasnot used the scale 100, a second interval of time is detected by theclock 280. In response, at step 645, the indicator 340 discontinues thefirst indicator signal and begins to display a second indicator signaldifferent from the first indicator signal. The second signal may be adifferent color, a different duty cycle, or an increased lightintensity, etc. In an embodiment in which more than one LED is assignedto a single user, the second signal may also be provided as an increasednumber of illuminated LEDs. The system may continue to detect increasingtime intervals, each time the indicator 340 initiating a new, moreurgent indicator signal. Intermittent reminder sounds or tones may alsobe used. When an individual does weigh-in using the scale 100, thesubsequent scale use is detected in step 650. The individual's weight isrecorded, which may include storing the weight in a weight log 233.After the weight is recorded, the indicator 340 returns to the initialstate in step 660.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from theabove description. Numerous modifications and variations will readilyoccur to those skilled in the art. For example, data in the system couldbe implemented as a “cloud-based” system in which data storage andanalysis is performed remotely, and then sent to the body weight scaleon-demand. In this implementation data storage capacity in the weightscale, mobile device, and food scale could be reduced, making the systemmore efficient. Since such modifications are possible, the invention isnot to be limited to the exact construction and operation illustratedand described. Rather, the present invention should be limited only bythe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A notification system comprising: a) a bodyweight scale having i) a light-emitting indicator on the scale, ii) acomputer processor, and iii) a tangible, non-transitory scale memory; b)programming residing on the scale memory, the programming configured toi) record a scale use event including a weight measurement at a firsttime, ii) after a first predetermined time interval from the first time,cause the indicator to produce a visible use-scale light signal, iii)after a second predetermined time interval from the first time, causethe indicator to alter the use-scale light signal, and iv) when thescale is re-used, reset the first time to reflect the time of the scalere-use.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the use-scale light signal isone of a light flash duty cycle, a color, and a light intensity.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the indicator is located on the scale at oneof a scale weighing surface, a scale display, a scale base, and aperipheral scale border.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the indicatorcomprises a plurality of light emitting diodes, wherein the use-scalelight signal is altered after the second predetermined time interval byincreasing the number of light emitting diodes that are lit.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the programming further detects a firstsignal indicating a presence of a first user.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein the indicator produces the visible use-scale light signal onlywhen the programming detects the first signal indicating the presence ofthe first user.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first signal is afirst user-identifying signal that identifies the first user.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the programming further detects a seconduser-identifying signal that identifies a second user, further whereinthe programming separately tracks scale use for the first and secondusers, and further wherein the programming causes the indicator tocreate separate use-scale light signals based on each users use of thescale.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the user-identifying signalsare received from devices in proximity to the scale, with each devicebeing associated with a separate user.
 10. A notification systemcomprising: a) a body weight scale having i) a light-emitting indicatoron the scale, ii) a computer processor, and iii) a tangible,non-transitory scale memory; b) programming residing on the scalememory, the programming configured to i) record a scale use eventincluding a weight measurement at a first time, ii) detect auser-identifying signal from a device in proximity in the scale, iii)only after a predetermined time interval from the first time and onlywhen the user-identifying signal is detected, cause the light-emittingindicator to produce a visible use-scale light signal, wherein thelight-emitting indicator does not produce the visible use-scale lightsignal before the predetermined time interval, and further wherein thelight-emitting indicator does not produce the visible use-scale lightsignal when the user-identifying signal is not detected.